The New Translation Part 6: More Gloria

This is the latest installment in a series of short articles I wrote/adapted/edited for my parish bulletin. I will publish the others as they they appear.


Angelic Choirs

Angelic Choirs by Gustave Doré

The new Mass translation is coming in Advent! Back in 2000, Blessed Pope John Paul II issued the third edition of the Roman Missal. After more than ten years of consultation and work, the new English translation is finally ready.

Much of the new translation for the second half of the Gloria is a matter of rearranging clauses into a sequence that better reflects the original order of the Latin:

Original Latin 2010 Translation
Dómine Fili unigénite, Jesu Christe,
Dómine Deus, Agnus Dei,
Fílius Patris,

qui tollis peccáta mundi,
miserére nobis;
qui tollis peccáta mundi,
súscipe deprecatiónem nostram;
qui sedes ad déxteram
Patris,
miserére nobis.

Quoniam tu solus Sanctus,
tu solus Dóminus,
tu solus Altissímus, Jesu Christe,
cum Sancto Spíritu:
in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,

you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer,
you are seated at the right hand
of the Father,
have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

Jesus is twice mentioned as God’s Son. This not only better reflects the Latin, but reminds us that Jesus is begotten, not made, something we’ll come back to when we discuss the Creed. We also see that the phrase “you take away the sins of the world” is repeated twice. This should remind us of the Agnus Dei: “Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world….”

The new translation makes clear that one of the great reasons to proclaim the glory of Christ is that He is indeed our Savior who took away the sins of the world with His redemptive passion. The words themselves are taken from the Gospel of John: “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’” (John 1:29)

Next time: We start in on the Nicene Creed!

(Based on Roman Missal Formational Materials provided by the Secretariat for the Liturgy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2010, and materials provided by the Bishop Helmsing Institute)

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